Bucknell University
15-7, 6-3PL
Lehigh
12-10, 6-3PL
Knight's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Lehigh Past Bucknell, 57-54
2/6/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2005
*Note -- this game was later forfeited by Lehigh due to the use of an ineligible player.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Joe Knight hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Lehigh to a 57-54 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon in a tense, physical battle among two upper-division Patriot League teams. Abe Badmus scored a career-high 15 points for the Bison, who fell to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in the Patriot League.
Knight finished with a game-high 24 points for the Mountain Hawks (12-10, 6-3), who pulled even with Bucknell in the Patriot League standings. Lehigh shot only 31.8 percent from the field but made 23 of 28 free-throw attempts as the Bison were whistled for 23 fouls and had multiple players in foul trouble throughout the contest.
Badmus made all four of his 3-point tries and also had four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Kevin Bettencourt added 12 points and Charles Lee 10 for the Bison, who shot 41 percent from the floor.
After blocking a Jason Mgebroff layup under the basket and corralling the rebound, Bucknell freshman forward Darren Mastropaolo hit two pressure-packed free throws with 7.5 seconds left to tie the game at 54-all. Lehigh then inbounded to Knight, who spun twice before unleashing a 22-footer.
Lehigh drew a split in the season series. Bucknell won two weeks ago on 3-pointer by Badmus with six seconds left, and three of the last four meetings between the two teams have been decided at the buzzer.
Bucknell endured a five-minute scoreless drought in the latter stages of the second half, and Lehigh flipped a 45-42 deficit into a 50-45 lead after Nick Monserez's 3-pointer with 5:49 to play. The Hawks still led by five after Knight's runner with 4:48 to play, but Bettencourt answered with his third 3-pointer of the day to pull the Bison within 52-50.
James Anderson hit a turnaround baseline jumper to push Lehigh's cushion back to four. Lee made a pretty feed to Chris McNaughton for a layup to make it 54-52 with 2:23 left. Bucknell got two defensive stops before McNaughton missed a baseline jumper with 42 seconds.
Lehigh had the ball with a seven-second differential between the game clock and shot clock. The Bison elected not to foul and came up with a huge defensive stand, culminating with Mastropaolo's stuff of Mgebroff's layup.
The opening 20 minutes was a half of runs, as Bucknell responded to a quick 5-0 deficit by scoring 12 straight points in 20-2 run. The Bison's first four buckets of the night came from 3-point range, two by Badmus and one each from Bettencourt and Lee.
John Clark's slashing layup eight minutes into the contest gave the Bison a 20-7 lead. But Lehigh answered with consecutive treys by Monserez and Knight, sparking a 14-3 run that brought the Mountain Hawks within 23-21 with 4:36 left in the half.
Lehigh shot only 29.2 percent (7-24) from the floor in the first half and managed only two field goals in the final 9:30 of the half, but the Hawks went 11-for-14 from the free throw line during that span. Two Knight free throws pulled them within 29-28, then after Tarik Viaer-McClymont rebounded a Lehigh miss in the final seconds of the half, Knight picked his pocket and scored an easy layup at the buzzer to give Lehigh a 30-29 lead at intermission.
Bettencourt ended Friday's Lafayette game by making seven straight 3-pointers, and he made his first against Lehigh to run his streak to eight straight. The run ended later in the first half, and Bettencourt fell one shy of the school record for consecutive treys.
The Bison return to action on Friday, Feb. 11 against American at Sojka Pavilion at 5 p.m. That contest will be televised live on College Sports Television.
